High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability
Li D. Lu X. Walling D.E. Zhang T. Steiner J.F. Wasson R.J. Harrison S. Nepal S. Nie Y. Immerzeel W.W. Shugar D.H. Koppes M. Lane S. Zeng Z. Sun X. Yegorov A. Bolch T.
July 2022Nature Research
Nature Geoscience
2022#15Issue 7520 - 530 pp.
Global warming-induced melting and thawing of the cryosphere are severely altering the volume and timing of water supplied from High Mountain Asia, adversely affecting downstream food and energy systems that are relied on by billions of people. The construction of more reservoirs designed to regulate streamflow and produce hydropower is a critical part of strategies for adapting to these changes. However, these projects are vulnerable to a complex set of interacting processes that are destabilizing landscapes throughout the region. Ranging in severity and the pace of change, these processes include glacial retreat and detachments, permafrost thaw and associated landslides, rock–ice avalanches, debris flows and outburst floods from glacial lakes and landslide-dammed lakes. The result is large amounts of sediment being mobilized that can fill up reservoirs, cause dam failure and degrade power turbines. Here we recommend forward-looking design and maintenance measures and sustainable sediment management solutions that can help transition towards climate change-resilient dams and reservoirs in High Mountain Asia, in large part based on improved monitoring and prediction of compound and cascading hazards.
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Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, Singapore
Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal
College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Nepal Office, Kathmandu, Nepal
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Water, Sediment, Hazards, and Earth-surface Dynamics (waterSHED) Lab, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
Institute of Geography and Water Security, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center as a category II under the auspieces of UNESCO, Almaty, Kazakhstan
School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
Department of Geography
Department of Geography
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
College of Science and Engineering
Fenner School of Environment and Society
College of Life and Environmental Sciences
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment
Faculty of Geosciences
Water
Department of Geography
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics
School of Environmental Science and Engineering
Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering
Institute of Geography and Water Security
Central Asian Regional Glaciological Center as a category II under the auspieces of UNESCO
School of Geography and Sustainable Development
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